[CASD]

Maybe comparing it to an AWD Non-Turbo.

 

[Walking Black Bear]

Best I've got is an SEL non-turbo - 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Review - YouTube

 

[Yardtruck+]

Well....interesting but very limited. That guy has got to lose the background music

 

[CASD]

Yea it's a AWD... I wanted the drive impressions of a Non-Turbo FWD....maybe actual MPG while driving it Thanks Tho

 

[355rockit]

I have an SEL FWD non-turbo. Smooth acceleration. It is faster than it feels. Very quiet. I initially had it in regular drive mode and now in smart mode. I like smart mode. After break-in I'll move to sport. So far mileage has been fine... says 19.4 mpg mostly city and a little freeway. Bought it on 08/26, so had it for ~10 days. Mileage will improve once the motor has broken in. The normally aspirated 4 will not knock your socks off in acceleration but does a decent job. So far it makes me happy. If I want snap your head back acceleration I'll go to my Model 3 or F-Type R. So far enjoying the Santa Cruz.

 

[CASD]

I have an SEL FWD non-turbo. Smooth acceleration. It is faster than it feels. Very quiet. I initially had it in regular drive mode and now in smart mode. I like smart mode. After break-in I'll move to sport. So far mileage has been fine... says 19.4 mpg mostly city and a little freeway. Bought it on 08/26, so had it for ~10 days. Mileage will improve once the motor has broken in. The normally aspirated 4 will not knock your socks off in acceleration but does a decent job. So far it makes me happy. If I want snap your head back acceleration I'll go to my Model 3 or F-Type R. So far enjoying the Santa Cruz.

How is the handling?

 

[355rockit]

How is the handling?

A bit more body roll than I am used to, but overall does well. Haven't done any long drives yet. Planning on trying a twisty back road today so may have more feedback to provide.

 

[355rockit]

A bit more body roll than I am used to, but overall does well. Haven't done any long drives yet. Planning on trying a twisty back road today so may have more feedback to provide.

Took one of the canyon routes we do with the sports car club. Fairly twisty. SEL did very well and handled the tight turns well. I took it easy on the turns. I had the SC in Smart drive mode. Previously had it in standard mode. Smart mode works very well.

 

[JASmith]

 

[Walking Black Bear]

OMG ... I don't think I realized the base models in the US actually had a keyed ignition. You would think it would cost them less to just standardize the entire lineup on one ignition system and one key fob. I've officially reached the point where I'm forgetting that new vehicles can still have keys and twisty ignitions.

 

[CASD]

Bought a SE FWD... We get snow but I've driven in it all my life and even had FWD Rabbit in Ski country, AWD would be a nice buffer tho.
I Will add more here as I drive/learn more about the Santa Cruz I bought.
I've test-driven Fords new Maverick XLT 2.0T AWD So I will base off that.
First Impressions:
When I drove the Maverick I found the front seats very hard and the first thought I had...Driving any distance you're going to be numb and be in pain within 500 miles
The Sants Cruz felt firm,, supportive a little like a glove type fit.. Materials seem a little better quality
Interior:
The Santa Cruz felt more refined...even being the base model it had what you need for a daily driver...
The Maverick really didn't feel like a Ford to be honest.. the Seat wasn't plush.. some of the Dash felt like it was an afterthought.."Oh, Yea we need this.. let's squeeze it in here..or knob there...My last Ford was a 2011 2WD F150 and it was nice to ride in.. The Maverick..Well, kind of like the name..Felt like a buckboard.

Power:
The Maverick 2.0T AWD was a Rocket... but drove kind of weird, it was more truck-like in the ride and handling compared to the Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz 2.5 FWD has power..don't let anyone tell you different..It hit 80 on the freeway without breaking a sweat... It has plenty of power... a rocket maybe not but it's no slouch. Its ride was sport-like... it hugged the road, You could feel the short wheelbase in that it brought to mind a Mazda Slogan..."Zoom...Zoom" if you need a quick city drive this is it.....Zoom..Zoom

Price:
For the price, I had to pay I could have had a nicely equipped XLT 2.0T AWD...and I'll admit I was one of the ones that said to walk away from addendums.. But that was before I had driven the Maverick and Santa Cruz. So I was wrong...Pay what you think is fair!
I had given this dealership bad marks because of the addendums but after they actually used part of it as a bump up on my trade to get me into this Cruz at the payment I wanted...(in the last week I have gotten offers on my Chevy..and all of them came in at around $17500(Caravan-Carmax..etc.,)(I owed $17400 on it) and yesterday I got one for $7000 from Zoom...So I was actually getting a little nervous about whether I could get rid of the Chevy and buy anything.
Did I pay too much for the Cruz....time will tell but for me, it gives me what I needed..better MPG in town...Smaller and still can haul stuff

Conclusion for now
What do you want in a driving experience? A truck...Or an SUV-type experience and still haul stuff?
I've only had the Santa Cruz overnight so I may add more as I put miles on it

 

[Mjordan44]

Bought a SE FWD... We get snow but I've driven in it all my life and even had FWD Rabbit in Ski country, AWD would be a nice buffer tho.
I Will add more here as I drive/learn more about the Santa Cruz I bought.
I've test-driven Fords new Maverick XLT 2.0T AWD So I will base off that.
First Impressions:
When I drove the Maverick I found the front seats very hard and the first thought I had...Driving any distance you're going to be numb and be in pain within 500 miles
The Sants Cruz felt firm,, supportive a little like a glove type fit.. Materials seem a little better quality
Interior:
The Santa Cruz felt more refined...even being the base model it had what you need for a daily driver...
The Maverick really didn't feel like a Ford to be honest.. the Seat wasn't plush.. some of the Dash felt like it was an afterthought.."Oh, Yea we need this.. let's squeeze it in here..or knob there...My last Ford was a 2011 2WD F150 and it was nice to ride in.. The Maverick..Well, kind of like the name..Felt like a buckboard.

Power:
The Maverick 2.0T AWD was a Rocket... but drove kind of weird, it was more truck-like in the ride and handling compared to the Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz 2.5 FWD has power..don't let anyone tell you different..It hit 80 on the freeway without breaking a sweat... It has plenty of power... a rocket maybe not but it's no slouch. Its ride was sport-like... it hugged the road, You could feel the short wheelbase in that it brought to mind a Mazda Slogan..."Zoom...Zoom" if you need a quick city drive this is it.....Zoom..Zoom

Price:
For the price, I had to pay I could have had a nicely equipped XLT 2.0T AWD...and I'll admit I was one of the ones that said to walk away from addendums.. But that was before I had driven the Maverick and Santa Cruz. So I was wrong...Pay what you think is fair!
I had given this dealership bad marks because of the addendums but after they actually used part of it as a bump up on my trade to get me into this Cruz at the payment I wanted...(in the last week I have gotten offers on my Chevy..and all of them came in at around $17500(Caravan-Carmax..etc.,)(I owed $17400 on it) and yesterday I got one for $7000 from Zoom...So I was actually getting a little nervous about whether I could get rid of the Chevy and buy anything.
Did I pay too much for the Cruz....time will tell but for me, it gives me what I needed..better MPG in town...Smaller and still can haul stuff

Conclusion for now
What do you want in a driving experience? A truck...Or an SUV-type experience and still haul stuff?
I've only had the Santa Cruz overnight so I may add more as I put miles on it

Thank you for the overall driving impressions. Great to read about the comparison of the two vehicles from someone who actually was in the market to buy one.

MJ

 

[Yardtruck+]

Thank you CASD! Excellent review...and the Maverick XLT/SC comparison was fascinating: the SE is the bottom dweller of the line but XLT is mid-grade...and yet the SC still felt higher quality.

 

[JASmith]

Thank you CASD! Excellent review...and the Maverick XLT/SC comparison was fascinating: the SE is the bottom dweller of the line but XLT is mid-grade...and yet the SC still felt higher quality.

Realistically, the XLT is more of the starter grade, and its better to think of the XT is a fleet vehicle that Ford happens to also make available to the public. That's why it has limited colors, steelies, no cruise control, different cloth interior, etc. In fact, the XT and fleet vehicle are identical except that you can actually order the fleet vehicle with optional power seats but otherwise still look like a XT.

Even the SE really isn't that barebones, and has a rather large standard options list and it even has the same wheels as the $37K SEL Premium, but that's also why its starting price is more similar to a XLT.

The cheapest Santa Cruz, a SE FWD with no options is $25,215 after freight.

A Maverick XLT Hybrid FWD with spray in bed liner and bed storage box (to be more fair equivalent) is $24,550 after freight.

They trade a bunch of pros and cons with one another at those pretty similar pricepoints.

The best value though IMO where the Santa Cruz gains traction. literally and figuratively, is in AWD. W/ 4K tow package to be on par with the 3.5K tow rating of the SE SC, the Maverick then balloons to $28,600 vs the Santa Cruz SE AWD w/ tow hitch at $26,780 plus say $500 for trailer brake controller and 7-pin and installer is $27,280. Now the SC is cheaper, but again still various pros and cons like the 2.5 should be more reliable and won't carbon foul but is way down on power to the 250hp ecoboost.

 

[CASD]

I'm going through the accessories store... Let's see....Bed mat, Dog cover/Hammock, Winterfloor mats (Rubber with ridge to hold water in), Tint all the windows, maybe mud flaps...hood protector. still thinking lol
Getting..suburb type driving 22-23mpg But my work is one way like that but back is more stop and go, so hopefully, 20-21mpg.
The Cruz is very maneuverable, easy parking ....easy to not park in two stalls...my Chevy was harder to not take up two end-to-end stalls.. You either felt like the nose was out in the lane or your back end was in the stall behind you... Not the Cruz.
Blind spot?....I have not encountered it..
The Cruz is fun to drive... and my android cell doesn't Project...so I have to plug in my cell to get Android Auto time for a new cell

 

[g.eads]

OMG ... I don't think I realized the base models in the US actually had a keyed ignition. You would think it would cost them less to just standardize the entire lineup on one ignition system and one key fob. I've officially reached the point where I'm forgetting that new vehicles can still have keys and twisty ignitions.

L will be trading my 2019 base Tacoma doe a AWD SE, not only does the Tacoma have a key but you have to use it to open the door, and only the driver's door has a keyhole. But the truck is bigger than I need and the SC will replace it and a Honda Civic. All around win for me. Now all I need is the SC, ordered last Thursday, no estimate on delivery.

 

[HSC4ME]

L will be trading my 2019 base Tacoma doe a AWD SE, not only does the Tacoma have a key but you have to use it to open the door, and only the driver's door has a keyhole. But the truck is bigger than I need and the SC will replace it and a Honda Civic. All around win for me. Now all I need is the SC, ordered last Thursday, no estimate on delivery.

But you will miss out on Hyundai BlueLink!

 

[g.eads]

But you will miss out on Hyundai BlueLink!

At my age the SE has all the Tech I need and can deal with, I still use a garmin for navigation and am not sure if I will use Android auto

 

[g.eads]

At my age the SE has all the Tech I need and can deal with, I still use a garmin for navigation and am not sure if I will use Android auto

Will kind of miss the automatic cruise control, kind of liked it on the Tacoma, but the civic doesn't have it. I looked at the differences between SE and SEL and couldn't justify the extra 3K. I only drive 4-5 k a year. My truck only has 6000 miles so got a real good trade in

 

[HSC4ME]

At my age the SE has all the Tech I need and can deal with, I still use a garmin for navigation and am not sure if I will use Android auto

I was being sarcastic.

I originally had a SE ordered that the stealership stole from me by marking it up $14K+. I'm like you, don't need all that tech, but ended up in a base SEL with some tech that is really helpful and nice to have. Hyundai BlueLink isn't one of them (not for me, but other techy people like it). The cross traffic and lane assist are actually very nice. XM Sat radio is a must for me (hate commercials and lack of reception in places when traveling). I was going to add that to my original SE, but with the SEL it's all built in.

Still getting used to the complete keyless operation. At first I was reaching into my pocket constantly and pulling out my key fob. Then I'd seat down in the car and realize I don't need it. PITA to put the fob back into your pocket while seated. Now I'm puzzled walking up to my families Honda CVR when the door just doesn't open. And when the door is open, I climb in before realizing I need the key out of my pocket to start it. PITA to get the key out of my pocket once seated too.

The SE does have a lot of useful tech on it.